The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing a vehicle cabin part, such as an aircraft cabin part, wherein a gap between a first component, such as a cabin wall, and a second component adjacent to the first component, such as a seat adjacent to the cabin wall, such as a passenger seat, is sealed.
Aircraft cabin parts having a gap between a cabin wall and a seat adjacent to the cabin wall are sufficiently well known from the prior art. Sealing such a gap is also known. This is done, in particular, for operational and safety reasons, as well as for aesthetic reasons. Sealing the gap also permits protecting the privacy of the passengers, which is particularly necessary in business class. In business class and first class, the seats are larger and have a more rounded, more compact shape than in economy class, i.e. in particular there, sealing the gap is also useful for safety reasons, for instance, hiding inadmissible objects in the lateral gap is prevented.
However, it is disadvantageous that, particularly in business class, the cabin walls are strongly curved and thus have a complex profile, as business class is usually arranged in the front area of the fuselage in which the cabin walls taper to the nose of the aircraft and the seat rows are spaced at a greater distance. This also changes the position of the individual seats adjacent to the cabin wall relative to the cabin wall and thus the width of the gap for every individual seat in business class.
Usually, therefore, the seat is placed as closely as possible to the cabin wall to minimize the width of the gap. The remaining gap is usually sealed individually by means of a sealing body, which is adapted on-site in the aircraft cabin. The sealing body is frequently cut by hand and in that way adapted to the width of the gap and to the contours of the cabin wall and adjacent to the seat. The sealing body is therefore custom-made for every individual gap.
For that reason, the gap usually having a very complex shape due to the different contours of the cabin wall and the adjacent seat renders the situation difficult. Because every individual sealing compound is manufactured by hand, sealing the gap is very time- and cost-intensive.